A Break From The Norm
by MyLuckyStars
Summary: Blaise Zabini receives a valentine from Narcissa Malfoy, but the valentine has a more sinister meaning than anyone could have guessed. My submission for the fictionalley.net valentines challenge. One-shot.


A little Valentines Day HP fic. This was written as my submission for the Valentines Day challenge and I finally got around to finishing it just in time. Thought I'd share it here. This is a one-shot, and is therefore completed :)

_**disclaimer:**_ This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

Valentines Day was probably one of the least enjoyable days of the year. Or at least Blaise Zabini thought so. He sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, mindlessly stirring spoon full after spoon full of sugar into his porridge. The morning post had yet to arrive, but on his left, Draco Malfoy was bragging to Pansy Parkinson that his mother would be sending him his largest box of sweets to date. 

"Draco, your mother's such a generous woman," Pansy gushed, no doubt hoping Draco would share his spoils with her.

"I know that," He said, frowning as he watched Crabe and Goyle stuff their faces with sausage links.

Blaise pulled his attention away from his house mates and stared into his now overly sweet porridge. He could already tell that it was going to be a bad day. Besides the fact that it was Valentines Day, he also had unfinished transfigurations homework, rumors that he would have to dodge an invitation to Hogsmeade from Millicent Bulstrode, and the first class of the day was his least favorite.

"Finally, the owl post's here," Draco grumbled, but his look of annoyance turned into a smug smirk as his eagle owl delivered a rather large parcel on to the table in front of him. Malfoy turned in a fashion that he must have thought was casual, and Blaise followed his line of sight. It was directed to the Gryffindor table, or to be more specific, Harry Potter. Blaise thought his gloating was rather transparent, but then again, it seemed that when it came to trying to stick it to Potter, Draco didn't care about subtlety.

Harry Potter, however, was oblivious to the activity at the Slytherin table. He was munching on a piece of toast as he listened to Ron Weasly say something in a very animate fashion. Blaise almost chuckled out loud as Weasly nearly smacked Hermione Granger in the face.

"Zabini, your owl's getting impatient." Tracy Davis' voice cut through his thoughts and he noticed that indeed, and owl was perched on the table in front of him. He took an envelope from the bird, and it took flight almost immediately. The envelope it had delivered was gold and had a red wax seal on it. He was a little puzzled that the family crest in the wax belonged to the Malfoy family

Blaise broke the seal and pulled out a red sheet of parchment. The text was an intricate combination of curls and flourishes. Clearly, the sender was an accomplished calligrapher. The message wasn't very long, and he read through it carefully.

_Blaise Zabini,_

_Some experts state that Valentine's Day originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. For your loyalty to the noble Zabini family name and the House of Slytherin, I extend this valentine to you. Happy Valentine's Day._

_Narcissa Malfoy_

He carefully slipped the piece of paper back into its envelope and placed it in his copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. Blaise went back to playing in his breakfast, trying to appear as if nothing had happened. In reality, he was so shaken that he hadn't noticed several other Slytherin sixth years had received similar valentines from Draco's mother. The valentine's message was loud and clear. The day had finally come for his induction into the Death Eater ranks. _'a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity'_... some day would he possibly be martyred for being a Death Eater?

Blaise didn't eat much that morning. He remained absorbed in his thoughts and didn't hear Malfoy bragging to the rest of the table about how his valentine had been accompanied by a three-page letter from his mother telling him how proud she was of him. He also didn't hear Crabe confess that he had been worried he wouldn't receive one, despite his upbringing.

When the bell for classes finally rang, he grabbed his bag and shuffled out of the Great Hall along with the rest of the students. His bad day had just gotten worse.

* * *

Harry Potter made his way out of the Great Hall, trying to tune out Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley's argument while he munched on a piece of toast. The argument had been in full swing for about twenty minutes now, and Harry, who had been though enough of them to know better, didn't bother intervening. 

"Hermione, I said I was sorry. I didn't mean to spill pumpkin juice all over you. And besides, you cleaned it up in about a second. It's not like it hurt anything," Ron said, his long legs quickly covering the ground so that Harry and Hermione had to walk briskly just to keep up with him.

"That's not the point," Hermione shot back. "You should pay more attention to what you're doing. Before that, you almost slapped me in the face with a piece of bacon."

"But I didn't."

"But you _did_ spill pumpkin juice all over me."

"Listen, I already apologized for that. How many times do I have to say I'm sor-"

"What did Hagrid say we were covering in class today?" Harry asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Crups," Hermione said promptly, digging her Care of Magical Creatures book out of her bag.

"You don't need to tell me what they are," he said, as she was about to open the book.

"I wasn't going to," she insisted, but she put the book back in her bag.

"Why do we always have this class with the Slytherins?" Ron grumbled as he watched Pansy Parkinson and the other Slytherin sixth year girls pass them.

"Dunno," Harry answered. "It's not as if this class isn't hectic enough as it is."

The weather was surprisingly warm for mid February and they barely needed their cloaks. Hagrid was standing next to a small pen, which held about a dozen creatures that reminded Harry of the Jack Russell terrier one of the Dursley's neighbors had owned.

As Hagrid launched into his explanation on the magical properties of crups, Harry noticed that the Slytherins had clumped together and seemed to be whispering about something. It wasn't necessarily an odd occurrence in class, but it looked like they were discussing something other than a method of sabotaging Hagrid's lesson.

"What's with them?" Harry asked, elbowing Ron in the side.

"Maybe they all got official invites to You-Know-Who's next cocktail party," Ron said with a laugh.

"Malfoy certainly looks happy about whatever it is," Hermione observed. He was in the center of the group, a wide grin splayed across his face.

"Something like that _would_ make him happy," Harry said, trying to return his attention to Hagrid's lecture. Hagrid, however, had just finished and was telling everyone to get into groups of three and fetch a crup from the front.

"I'll go get one," Hermione offered, heading up to the pen next to Hagrid. By the time she got there, only two were left and she leaned over the waist high pen to lift out one with a black face.

"I was going to pick that one," a voice off to her left said. She stood up and found Blaise Zabini standing next to her with his arms crossed.

"I don't suppose it really matters." She scooped up the crup in question and handed it to him.

"I was kidding Granger, don't always take things so seriously," Blaise replied, taking the animal as she handed it to him. "Not all of us are out to get you." Just then, the crup shifted in his grip and started licking him on the cheek. Blaise's book fell to the ground and Hermione bent over to retrieve it. She didn't notice Malfoy approaching behind, and he purposely bumped into her into her, causing her to topple over. Her book bag fell to the ground and books, bottles of ink, and quills were strewn everywhere.

"You've got the mudblood waiting on you Zabini?" Malfoy said loftily. "I've seen better choices in servants, but I suppose you've got to work with what you're given."

"Shove it Malfoy," Harry said, he had rushed over and was now helping Hermione stand up. Ron wasn't far behind him and had already reached for his wand.

Blaise stooped down to grab his copy of _Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and headed off to join the other Slytherins. Malfoy lingered for a few seconds, apparently trying to decide if he wanted to start something, but ultimately followed Zabini.

"What was all that about?" Ron said, frowning.

"Just Malfoy being Malfoy," Hermione replied, brushing herself off.

"No, I mean Zabini, he didn't even apologize," Harry said as he and Ron both gathered up her spilt school supplies. Harry handed her the bag and she slung it over her shoulder.

"Technically, he's got nothing to apologize for," she said, picking up the remaining crup from it's pen. "Let's just go somewhere where we don't have to listen to any of them." Harry and Ron nodded, and they made their way to the edge of the group.

* * *

Later that night in the Gryffindor common room Harry, Ron, and Hermione all sat around a table near the fireplace, making their way through the day's homework. 

"I can't believe Hagrid asked for a thirty centimeter report on crups," Ron complained, unrolling a fresh piece of parchment.

"Thirty centimeters is hardly anything," Hermione chided. "The write up in the book is almost as long." She pulled her Care of Magical Creatures book out of her bag and flipped it open. The pages fell open to reveal a gold envelope with a red seal. The seal had already been broken, and bits of red wax littered the page. "What's this?" She said, puzzled at the discovery. Harry and Ron both looked up.

"It's not yours?" Ron asked.

"No," she said, "and I don't know how it could have gotten in there. I haven't lent this book to anyone in a few days." She looked over the front of the envelope and frowned. "It's addressed to Blaise Zabini." Comprehension dawned on her face. "He must have accidently grabbed my book during Care of Magical Creatures."

"Well, what does it say?" Harry asked, leaning forward on his elbows. She read the letter and it was followed by a couple seconds of silence.

"I don't understand," Ron said, "Why would Narcissa Malfoy want to give a valentine to Blaise Zabini? She doesn't fancy him does she? Because that would just be strange."

"I think it's something more than that," Hermione said, thoughtfully. "The message in its self isn't exactly typical of a valentine. It's almost written as if he's being awarded something."

"What would she be awarding Blaise?" Harry asked, frowning.

"Maybe it wasn't just Blaise," Hermione said. "All of the Slytherins were acting oddly this morning."

"I was just joking about the cocktail party," Ron said, his eyes wide. "You don't think that's really what it is do you?"

"We're jumping to conclusions now," Hermione said. "Maybe we've all been involved in too much cloak and dagger stuff and this is just an innocent valentine from Mrs. Malfoy."

"I would have never thought I'd hear the words 'Malfoy' and 'innocent valentine' in the same sentence," Harry commented with a frown.

"I'll just have to return it to him," Hermione said.

"You're actually going to initiate conversation with a Slytherin?" Ron looked at her as if she'd lost it.

"Well I want my book back. I've got class notes in there," She said defensively. "Besides, it's the courteous thing to do."

"You can't possibly go down there tonight. Zabini's one thing, but if one of the other Slytherin's catch you lurking around the dungeon..."

"Thank you Ron, for pointing out the obvious." She closed the book and stashed it in her bag. "I'll just take it to him tomorrow. He's bound to be in Hogsmeade."

"Well, I guess he's not likely to try anything in The Three Broomsticks," Harry said with a shrug, "But we'll go with you if you'd like."

"No need, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself."

* * *

The next day, however, Hermione was having a difficult time trying to find Blaise. If she hadn't been so sure he didn't even know she was looking for him, she would have suspected he was hiding from her. After about an hour of sitting in The Three Broomsticks with Ron and Harry, she decided to make another round of the shops and side streets of Hogsmeade. 

"Hermione, I think we should come with you," Harry said as she stood up from their table. "Just incase."

"No," she said flatly. "I don't want an entourage."

"Alright, just don't blame us if you end up cursed or in detention," Ron said, taking a drink of his Butter Beer.

"Actually, I find the chances of that happening to be greater if you two are with me." Ron pulled a face, but she ignored him and put on her coat as she headed out the door.

The fair weather had continued to hold, and she walked the sunny streets of Hogsmeade, poking her head into shops every now and then. She had almost given up hope of finding him, when she heard a familiar voice coming from down an alley.

"You mean Granger's seen it? How thick can you get Zabini?" The voice was hard and cold, and Hermione cautiously glanced around the corner to see Draco Malfoy accompanied, as always, by Crabe and Goyle. They were facing Blaise Zabini, who was massaging his temples with a frown on his face.

"I didn't _mean_ for her to see it. She wouldn't have even gotten my book if you hadn't pushed her over."

"Don't try to blame this on me," Malfoy sneered.

"What does it matter anyway?" Blaise shot back. "So what if she thinks your mother sent me a valentine."

"It matters because regardless of the fact that she's friends with Potter and Weasley, she'd to damn smart to think that's all it is." Malfoy started to pace slightly, and he looked up the alley to see if anyone was listening. Hermione quickly ducked back around the corner, and when she thought it was safe to look again, she saw that Malfoy had stepped closer to Zabini and was speaking in a lower voice. She strained her ears, and could just barely hear what he was saying.

"You of all people should know better than to leave the card informing you of your initiation as a Death Eater just lying around." Draco was practically growling.

"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Blaise said in a cold, even, voice.

"That's not of my concern, but if I were you, I would suggest you take care of it quickly." Draco spun around, and stormed up the alleyway, Crabe and Goyle in his wake. Hermione panicked. After the conversation she had just heard, it would be a disaster if Malfoy found her now. She threw herself behind a rubbish bin, knowing it was a feeble hiding place, but luck was with her. Malfoy was so preoccupied with his recent conversation that the trio of Slytherins passed without noticing her. Her victory was short lived however, because she heard another set of scuffling footsteps coming up the alley, and they paused on the other side of the rubbish bin.

"Whoever you are," Blaise's voice echoed slightly against the brick walls, "I'd like to inform you that it would be a lot easier to hide if your foot wasn't sticking out into the street." Hermione's heart sunk No doubt he would know she had overheard the conversation. Why else would she have hid? She slowly pulled herself up and his eyes narrowed suspiciously when he saw her. "Well Granger, fancy meeting you behind a dust bin."

Hermione didn't bother wasting time with small talk. The faster she got back to the Leaky Cauldron, the better. "I'm returning your Care of Magical Creatures book," She said, thrusting it towards him.

He accepted the book and tucked it inside his jacket. "I'm afraid I don't carry my school books everywhere I go," He replied. "I'll give you yours on Monday." Blaise abruptly turned and started to head up the street. Hermione realized this would be her last chance and she let curiosity get the best of her. Against her better judgement, she called after him.

"Blaise, about the valentine-" His back went rigid, and he turned slowly, facing her again. "I heard what Malfoy said to you," she finished somewhat weakly, regretting that she had brought it up. He walked swiftly back toward her and roughly pulled her into the alleyway.

"Potter and Weasly may not be that smart," Blaise hissed, "but I thought you were supposed to have brains."

Hermione glared at him. "Well, it's what Malfoy said it was then? You've officially been inducted into the Death Eaters?"

"I can't believe you're confronting a Death Eater by yourself in the middle of a deserted street," Zabini said, shaking his head.

"Who says I'm alone?" She threatened.

"You're lying," He shot back. "Call it my Slytherin sense."

"So you're accepting the invitation?" She asked. "I always thought you were different from them."

"Granger, you don't even know me," He said in disbelief.

"Everybody knows," she insisted. "You don't act like them."

His face softened slightly. Blaise would have liked to think that she was meerly taking shots into the dark, but the truth was she was hitting close to home.

"I come from a pure blood family and I'm in Slytherin, what do you expect," He said, trying to cover his emotions.

"That means nothing. Loads of pure blood wizards aren't Death Eaters. Just because you're in Slytherin doesn't mean you have to follow Voldermort." Her voice shook slightly, but she spat out the Dark Lords name anyway.

"And what's my alternative? To join you're little DA meetings? I'm not stupid, I know that a Slytherin would never be allowed."

"DA is for anyone who wants to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said, but deep down she knew it would be difficult to get the other members, especially the Gryffindors, to accept a Slytherin after what had happened the previous year.

"Forget it Granger, I know what I'm supposed to do. Just keep your nose out of it, and if you were smart, you'd make sure that Malfoy thinks you don't know about the valentine."

"Is that a threat?" she said defiantly.

"No, it's just some friendly advice." With that, he left the alleyway and briskly walked up the street, leaving Hermione feeling as if she'd somehow failed.


End file.
